Commencement Details

April 21, 2017

Dear Parents of Seniors,

Soon you will be the parents of a 2017 Loomis Chaffee graduate. Congratulations! You must be extremely proud and excited. We look forward to hosting the families, friends, and guests of members of the Class of 2017 for the festivities.

Through the Commencement 2017 website and messages in the Parent eNews, the school has shared general information about Commencement and related activities. This letter is meant to provide further details and to answer additional questions.

Commencement Day, Sunday, May 28:
The ceremony will occur at 10 a.m. on the lawns of the Loomis Homestead and the Head's House, in the area directly in front of Founders Hall. The school is honored that Loomis Chaffee parent Steve Tisch, an Academy Award winning producer and co-owner of the New York Giants football team, will be this year's Commencement speaker. The ceremony lasts approximately two hours, and a buffet luncheon on the Grubbs Quadrangle follows. All graduates, families, and guests are invited. Island Photography will photograph each graduate receiving his/her diploma. They also will be available before and after the ceremony to take family photographs. In addition, Panfoto will take a panoramic photograph of the Class of 2017 before the ceremony begins; these photographs also will be made available for purchase.

Seating for the ceremony will be available to families and guests starting at 8 a.m. on Sunday morning. Tickets are not required, and there is no limit on the number of guests per graduate. However, the school asks that families use their discretion about reserving an appropriate number of seats. In the case of inclement weather, the ceremony will be held under the tent in the Grubbs Quadrangle, where covered seating is limited. Under those circumstances, we encourage all guests to provide preferred seating to the parents and grandparents of the graduates and others to bring appropriate rain gear.

Commencement announcements have been delivered to seniors. Each student has received five announcements, which may be used as an invitation or an announcement of the graduation to family and friends. Parents have received an announcement in the mail as well.

Class Night, Saturday, May 27:
Class Night activities will take place in the Olcott Center. Typically families of graduates make individual plans for dinner and then return to campus for the dessert reception at 7:30 p.m. The Class Night program begins at 8:30 p.m. All seniors and their families and guests are welcome to attend the festivities. The formal program will last approximately an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes.

Prom, Thursday, May 25:
Prom will be held at Riverview in Simsbury, Connecticut. Parents are invited to a photograph session on the Grubbs Quadrangle from 6:15-7 p.m. Seniors attending the Prom will be bussed back and forth from campus, and upon returning to Loomis Chaffee, they will be served "breakfast" that will conclude by 1 a.m. All day students must be picked up by their parents. No day student will be allowed to drive him or herself home, and the school does not allow on-campus sleepovers for day students after the Prom. For more details, refer to the Prom letter provided by the deans. The Loomis Chaffee Parents Association will host an informal reception for parents immediately after the photograph session at 7:30 p.m. at the home of Head of School Sheila Culbert.

Appropriate Commencement Attire:
Graduates generally wear white/off-white dresses or navy blazers, ties, and light-colored slacks. While Class Night ceremonies are less formal, appropriate dress is also encouraged for this event.

Lodging for Guests from Afar:
Please use the list on the Commencement webpage as a resource for overnight accommodations. Note the cutoff dates for special Loomis Chaffee rates are coming up soon, in fact as soon as April 25.

At the conclusion of the Commencement luncheon and after sufficient time for farewells, seniors are expected to pack up their rooms and depart campus. We look forward to welcoming them back warmly as alumni whenever they choose to visit!

For additional information, please contact me at lisa_ross@loomis.org or 860.687.6277. This is an exhilarating time for you and your graduate, and we will do our best to make it memorable!

Many thanks,

Lisa Salinetti Ross
Director of Alumni & Parent Relations